Educational toy



June 2, 1970 F. NOVAK 3,514,894

EDUCATIONAL TOY Filed Sept. 14, 1967 INVENTOR. FEE/UK L. NUVIK HTTOR/UE)United States Patent 3,514,894 EDUCATIONAL TOY Frank L. Novak, 5308Madison St., Hollywood, Fla. 33020 Filed Sept. 14, 1967, SenNo. 667,808Int. Cl. A6311 33/00 U.S. Cl. 46-1 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Aneducational toy which includes a housing and a slide traversing theinterior of the housing. The slide is provided with an intermediateledge of about zero slope so that a first disk on the ledge isresponsive to an impact by a second similarly sized disk gliding downthe slide to dislodge the first disk from the ledge. The second diskreplaces the first disk and remains on the ledge.

This invention has as an object to provide an educational toy andamusement device which is useful in illustrating principles of physics,including gravity forces, friction forces, momentum transfer, and theprinciples of the inclined plane.

It is another object of this invention to provide an inexpensive devicefor illustrating the aforesaid principles which includes a housing witha slide of a negative slope through the housing, with a portion of theslide at all times exterior of the housing at the upper and lower endsthereof; the slide path merges and blends with a ledge intermediate thelength of the slide which is of a slope of about zero or slightlypositive so that a coin placed on the slide will under the influence ofgravity glide to a position of rest on the terminal portion of theshelf, where on impact by a similar coin, it is adapted to be knockedfrom the ledge to drop to the main plane of the slide for completion ofits slide path through the housing, with the impacting coin remaining onthe ledge or tongue.

It is another object of this invention to provide a device to createmagical illusions, when the housing is not of transparent material, sothat, when one coin, such as a shiny coin, is deposited on the slide andallowed to travel to the position of rest on the ledge, a second, lessshiny coin may be deposited to travel down the slide to impact anddislodge the trailing edge of the first coin, whereby it appears that achange has taken place in the appearance of the second coin on itspassage through the housing.

It is another object of this invention to provide a device of the typedescribed which is simple in construction, inexpensive to manufactureand which may be constructed from a planar piece or panel by cuttingpieces and folding them along predetermined cut and fold lines forassembly in the manner described hereinafter.

It is another object of this invention to provide a housing having aslide extending diagonally through the housing with a planar slidesurface which merges and blends with a generally horizontal ledgeintermediate the length thereof, so that an object positioned on theledge is adapted to be knocked from the ledge by a planar object movingdown the slide through a transfer of momentum which ocours with theimpact on the ledge to illustrate Ne-Wtons Third Law of Motion that forevery action there is an equal and contrary reaction.

In accordance with these and other objects which will become apparenthereinafter, the instant invention will now be described with referenceto the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the instant device and illustrating adisk shaped object sliding downwardly on the slide;

3,514,894 Patented June 2, 1970 FIG. 2 is a view in cross section takenalong the plane indicated by the arrowed line 22 of FIG. 1 and lookingin the direction of the arrows and illustrating the disk shaped devicein a stationary position intermediate the slide length;

FIG. 3 is a view similar to that of FIG. 2 and illustrating the diskshaped device of FIG. 1 being ejected from the slide and its position asshown in FIG. 2 having been assumed by another disk shaped device, therehaving been a transfer of energy by reason of an impact as explainedhereinafter;

FIG. 4 is a partial view taken along the plane indicated by the arrowedline 4-4 and looking in the direction of the arrows;

FIG. 5 is a view taken along the plane indicated by the line 55 of FIG.3 and looking in the direction of the arrows; and

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a box of pasteboard material andillustrating the elements of the instant device as shown in the planarform and before being cut and folded into the configuration describedhereafter.

Referring to the drawings, wherein like reference characters designatelike or corresponding parts throughout the different views, andreferring particularly to FIG. 1, there is shown the frame of a housing12 which, in the embodiment shown, comprises a top panel 14 anddepending side panels 16, 18, 20 and 22 folded out of the plane of thetop panel and extending a common direction with the panels being securedalong their respective adjacent edges 24, 26, 28 and 30 to defineupright frame elements. In a pair of opposing side panels, such as 18and 22, an opening is provided, an upper opening 32 in one of the panelsand a lower opening 34 in the other of the panels. These openings 32 and34 are configured and sized so as to receive a slide member 36 whichincludes a slide surface 38 and opposite, longitudinally-extending guiderails 40 and 42. The slide 36 is of a length such that when in thenegative slope indicated in FIG. 2, it is adapted to span the interior44 of the frame with a receiving chute portion 46 extending from theupper opening 32 and an ejection chute portion 48 extending from thelower opening 34. Intermediate the length of the slide and within thatintermediate portion 50 which diagonally spans the distance between theopenings 32 and 34, a flap or tongue 52 is secured, the said tonguesloping to a slightly horizontally-disposed terminal end portion 54. Anunderlying angle-shaped support 56 may be provided beneath the terminalend portion 54 to maintain the same in the position shown in FIG. 2.Thin tape means, such as that indicated by the strips 58 and 60, areemployed to secure the tongue 52 and the support in the position shownin FIG. 2. Each of the guide rails 40 and 42 are provided with anextending shield portion 62 and 64 arranged about the terminal endportion 54 for a purpose which will become apparent in the followingparagraph.

The operation of the device is as follows: First, it is seeded byplacing a planar object, such as the coin 66, on the terminal portion 54of the ledge as shown in FIGS. 2 and 5. This is done, for instance, bytipping the slide so as to reduce the incline of the slide path so thatthe coin comes to rest at the desired aforementioned location.Thereafter, as will be seen on reference to FIGS. 3 and 4, when a secondcoin 72 is inserted and allowed to slide to the flap portion or tongueor ledge, it will impact upon the first coin 66, transferring itsmomentum to the seeded, first coin as the leading edge 74 impacts uponthe trailing edge 76 of the seeded coin with sufficient force so thatthe first coin is driven from the perch position shown in FIG. 5 to dropto the main plane of the slide and pass through and out the ejectionchute portion 48. The planar object, represented by the coins in thedrawings, is preferably of a maximum lateral dimension about the same asthat of the slide path and at least greater than onehalf of the lateraldimension. Adjustment means are pro vided to orient the attitude of theterminal end portion '54 to achieve a point of impact between thetrailing edge of a seeded coin on the ledge and the leading edge ofanother impacting coin such that a transfer of momentum will occur andthe seeded coin will be driven off of the ledge to be replaced by theimpacting coin. It will be seen that the foot end 70 of the support 56comprises an adjustment means and that by flexing the foot end 70 soasto alter the included angle between the main plane of the support andthat of the foot end, the position of the terminal end portion 54 of theledge may be modified. Additionally, the arcuate portion 68 of the ledgemerges and blends with the main plane of the slide and some degree ofadjustment of this are may be perfected to slightly modify and adjustthe point of impact, depending upon the size of coins which areinvolved, for instance, a dime and a nickel. The shields 62 and 64 servethe dual function of guiding a coin to be ejected so that the flight dueto the impact will be guided to flight above the lower portion of theslide path and with the side surface 78 of the shield acting as a stopfor locating the slide as well as the terminal end portion within theinterior of the frame. It will be seen that numerous important objectlessons in physics and natural sciences may be learned from anobservation through the frame of the aforesaid operation, includingtransfer of momentum, principles of dynamics, friction, gravityphenomena and the like. In addition, if the frame is closed as bycardboard panels 16, 18, and 22, as well as a closed roof 14, the devicemay be used to create magical illusion; for instance, by dropping ashiny penny into the receiving chute and then later dropping a dullpenny into the chute with the illusion being created that passagethrough the box causes the penny to become shiny, since the shiny pennyis the one which is ejected by the impact.

On reference to FIG. 6, it will be seen that the structure of the devicemay be provided on a cardboard panel 80 of a cardboard box 82, such as acereal box, with the frame or housing being indicated by the lines 84which are to be cut and the fold lines 86. The same is true for the cutlines 88 and fold lines 90 of the slide, flap and support. Meanscomprising the tongue 92 and slot 94 on the panel edges may be providedfor interconnecting the adjacent sides of the panels, or, alternatively,adhesive strip means 96 or the like may be provided as indicated alongthe edge of the frame. Alternatively, as shown by the dotted linesindicated, a flap 98 may be provided on the adjacent edges of the sidepanels to provide a flap type connection for glue or staples to theadjacent interior face of the panel. Suitable advertising copy may beemployed on the top surface or roof 14 of the housing in the embodimentshown in FIG. 6 as well as on any of the side panels. The preferreddimensions are such that the frame is of cube form with the span of thesides being in the order of six inches and in which case the supportsurface of the openings or holes 32 and 34 in which the chute or slideis passed are respectively one and one-fourth inches from the top edge100 and bottom edge 102. The preferred material for the construction ofthe slide and the frame is semirigid, such as pasteboard; however,transparent side panels may be employed being suitably fastened togetheralong their adjacent edges by frame members with the top either beingremoved or of transparent material. In all constructions, it ispreferred that the bottom be open as indicated by the numeral 104 toaccommodate the positioning of the slide in the openings, a partialfloor being preferred and defined by a distalmost flap portion 106 oneachof the side panels which may or may not be closed by a cover platewhich is not shown; and the flap 52 extends completely across the widthof the slide as seen in plan.

4 What is claimed is: 1. An educational toy including, a frame and aslide, in combination:

said frame comprising an opaque container and including a first supportside with a support surface at a first level and a second support sideopposite said first support side having a support surface lower thansaid first level, said slide comprising a planar slide surface, saidslide being supported in spanning relation of said support surfaces at anegative slope with respect to horizontal;

guide means along the opposite longitudinal edges of said slide surface,said slide including a ledge means positioned within said opaquecontainer and extending substantially across the slide surface betweenthe slide supports and outwardly at a slope which is about horizontal;

whereby a planar object in a state of rest on the ledge is adapted to beimpacted upon a similar planar object which slides down the slide totransfer the momentum and knock the planar object from the ledge withthe opaque container concealing the transfer of momentum 2. The deviceas set forth in claim 1 wherein the first and second support sides eachinclude an opening and the support surface comprises the lower boundaryof the opening and said slide includes an exit chute extending outwardlyof the lower opening.

3. The device as set forth in claim 1 wherein adjustment means areprovided on said slide to cooperate with the terminal portion of saidledge to adjust the attitude of the terminal portion of said ledge withrespect to the horizontal plane.

4. The device as set forth in claim 3 wherein said adjustment meanscomprises a member extending upwardly from the slide surface beneathsaid ledge and connected to a portion overlaying said slide surface,said member and portion being interconnected at a hinge line whereby themember may be flexed to raise and lower the level of the distal end ofthe member.

5. The device as set forth in claim 1 wherein said guide means includesa shield extending outwardly on either side of said ledge to guideflight of a planar object knocked from the ledge to a path above theplane of the slide surface as seen in plan.

6. The device as set forth in claim 5 whichincludes means on the slideto abut said frame and to hold the slide in a predetermined position.

7. The device as set forth in claim 1 wherein said frame includes aplurality of opaque side panels and a roof of opaque material to conceala transfer of momentum between a planar object in a state of rest on theledge and an impacting planar object caused to slide down the slidesurface.

8. The device as set forth in claim 1 wherein the side panels define anopen mouthed frame bottom whereby the slide is accessible therethrough.

9. The device as set forth in claim 1 wherein means are provided tointerconnect the panels and roof in said frame-defining relation.

10. The device as set forth in claim 9 wherein said frame, said slideand guide means, and said ledge, are each composed of a piece of planarmaterial severed from a sheet along. the boundary of said pieces.

I References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,577,309 12/1951 Carwile 46-1LOUIS G. MANCENE, Primary Examiner E. K-RAUSE, Assistant Examiner US.Cl. X.R. 2728

